Your Highness
by icekittens
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia isn't your ordinary princess. Instead of being known as 'Lucky Lucy Heartfilia' she'd much rather prefer being known as 'Just Lucy.' However, when walking down the streets of Magnolia one day, she bumps into a commoner — er, a rather handsome commoner. And everything changes for her from that point on.
1. the beginning

**A/N: **guysguysguysguys oMG I JUST HAD A STORY IDEA POP INTO MY HEAD SCREECHES — and yes i know i should be updating my other fics bUT i'm _reaally_ fired up for this one!

oops i should admit i haven't been watching the latest fairy tail episodes because well uh i guess you can say i've been caught up on other things — pfft who? dan and phil? /laughs nervously/ uhhh w-who're they /trips and dozens of phan photos fall out/

**summary: **Lucy Heartfilia isn't your ordinary princess. Instead of being known as 'Lucky Lucy Heartfilia' she'd much rather prefer being known as 'Just Lucy.' However, when walking down the streets of Magnolia one day, she bumps into a commoner — er, a rather handsome commoner. And everything changes for her from that point on.

**setting: **AU

/clears throat/ anyway well here we go! i hope you like it~

enjoy :)

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><p>I.<p>

the beginning

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It's nearing 6:30 AM, and a certain blonde teen named Lucy Heartfilia is deeply asleep on her desk. It seemed as if she was working on something, for the countertop is littered with crumpled pieces of paper, and it seems as if she's fallen asleep on a sheet titled _The History of Magnolia_.

Her hair's a mess. It used to be in a bun, but that hairstyle was now long gone, replaced with a load of messy, curly, blonde hair that nearly covered the teen's face. It doesn't seem as she had noticed this, because there's a pile of rubber bands next to her signifying that she probably undid it on purpose.

A few moments passed, and the blonde made no sign of movement, except the slow rise and fall of her chest. It would've been peaceful enough, but then the clock next to her started beeping obnoxiously loudly.

_BEEP! _

_BEEP!_

_BEEP! _

The teen shrieked as she bolted awake, waking up with such force that she sent all the papers on her desk flying.

"AAAAH!" She yelled as she flung backwards, causing her to fall off her chair and crash onto the floor, which was luckily carpet. Her gown completely covered her face, leaving her cursing and struggling with pain as she pulled that part of the dress off her face so she could breathe.

Footsteps came rushing to her door, and she was still trying to think of a good excuse why she ended up like this until they swung open quite dangerously. Stunned, the blonde could only stay there stupidly as she gaped at the person standing in the doorway.

It was one of her fellow maids, Virgo. Her expressionless face peeked through the doors as she saw Lucy sprawled on the floor. "Your Highness, did you hurt yourself? I believe I heard you just now."

"Oh!" Lucy said, laughing nervously. "Uh, well ... This is my morning routine, Virgo. Nothing to worry about. It's perfectly fine. I'm okay."

Virgo didn't look convinced. "Should I tell Your Majest — "

"NO!" Lucy immediately said, eyes widening. She shot up as she waved her arms in desperation. "No, no. You don't need to tell Father. It's okay. I'm okay. Don't worry. Nothing to stress over about." Her father would kill her for this if he found out anything.

The pink haired woman cocked her head to the side. "I see. Would you like to punish me, Princess? I'm sorry for intruding on your morning routine."

Lucy shook her head. "No, no. Virgo, it's fine. You may be dismissed."

And with that, she bowed and left Lucy, closing the doors behind her as the blonde breathed a sigh of relief. She returned to her desk, which was covered with piles of paperwork and groaned loudly.

At least her clock was shut off now. Lucy grumbled to herself as she cleaned up the mess she made, and frowned at the paper she'd fallen asleep on, _The History of Magnolia_. Well, one of the benefits for being a princess was studying on her own.

Lucy wasn't exactly happy with it though. Sure, there were almost unlimited stuff she could get because of her royalty. But she didn't want to be _seen_ as a sophisticated princess who thought wealth was everything. Lucy preferred reading over dancing over that matter.

And don't even get her _started_ on her singing lessons.

It was hopelessly cliché enough for her to know that there were a lot of stories where the princess wants to be an actual person people could find normal, and not a rich princess who wanted everything. It was like a fairy tale.

Yeah, she'd been outside before. It wasn't like she was stuck in a castle throughout her whole life. She'd gotten a few odd glances from people that seemed as if they recognized her, but at the same time they didn't. After all, princesses don't go out in the common world as much. It made her relieved. She didn't like being swarmed around people.

With that, Lucy did her best to fix her hair. She couldn't really leave it the way she wanted to that much, after all royalty _did_ have its limits. She sighed as she placed her hair back into a bun and fixed her nightgown, hoping it didn't look as bad as she thought it was.

She walked over to her bed, noticing that there were stacks of books on the sheets. Lucy realized that they were the ones she was planning on reading at one of her best friend's recommendations. All of her friends came from different kingdoms — they were all very kind and understanding.

Some of the ones she could name at the top of her head were Erza Scarlet, Levy McGraden, Juvia Lockser, and Mirajane Strauss. All of them had their own weird personalities, but hey — they were her dear friends. She was grateful for having them in her life.

Lucy brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she observed her room, which was pretty clean now. Her room was pretty spacious and so was her closet, even though Lucy didn't much wear all the fancy gowns and dresses in there. Her desk was close to the giant windowpanes so Lucy could see what was going on outside of the castle and out to view Magnolia.

There were lots of rooms in the castle, and most of them were for the maids and servants and whatnot, but Lucy always insisted on her cleaning after herself. Sometimes they do need a break from cleaning and tidying up.

Her mother had died years ago, when Lucy was still a child. It had greatly saddened both Lucy and her father, Jude Heartfilia, for Layla Heartfilia were both dear in their hearts. However, Lucy's father changed. He became harsher and colder to Lucy, maybe because she reminded him of his wife.

Lucy knew that her father loved her, but he was just still suffering from heartbreak. He didn't have to take all his anger and sadness at her though. It was the only thing Lucy found unfair to her. But she still respected her father even though he brought her to tears most of the time.

She turned her eyes to the clock on her desk. The time read 7:00 AM. Lucy was about to hit herself with her book until she realized today was Saturday, meaning that she was free to do anything as of now.

All her previous feelings of being exhausted and miserable ebbed away and was soon replaced with a newfound joy as she pumped a fist into the air. "YES!" She yelled excitedly as she took the bun out of her hair and instead placed it as a side ponytail with a pink ribbon on it.

"No lessons today!" She exclaimed happily as she opened the closet doors. What should she do today? Maybe she'd go outside. It's been a while since she's felt the Magnolia breeze. Lucy was allowed to leave the castle on her own, even without permission from her father. It was because she'd already reached her teenage years, meaning she was clearly responsible for herself.

Lucy wasn't allowed to be out until after 12:00 midnight, meaning that if she was — her father would literally send out every soldier and guard he had to go and look for her. Which would be embarrassing enough. So of course, Lucy obeyed.

She picked the clothes that would most likely have her blend in with the crowd. A simple pink turtleneck sweater with a cherry red plaid skirt was good enough. She chose brown leggings to go with the outfit and pulled on her chesnut brown boots and studied herself in the mirror.

Not bad. This'll do. It was one of the things she'd read in one of her favorite books on how to stay undercover. Dress lightly, don't stand out. She nodded, pleased with herself, and made her way out of the room before pocketing her cellphone.

Lucy hummed to herself a tune as she made her was downstairs and into the large dining room, where her father was already at the long end of the other side of the table, seated in the most defined chair, staring seriously at his daughter.

"Lucy. You're going out today?" He asked, his voice cold.

Lucy took a seat on the other side of the table, into the Princess's chair, as she nodded. She looked up to meet her father's eyes. "Yes, Papa, I'm thinking of going into Magnolia today."

Lucy remembered her manners and began to eat delicately, like she was taught to. It kind of annoyed her, but well it was out of respect and politeness. Her father nodded and made no conversation as the two of them continued on consuming their meal.

Lucy then stood up after she finished, and she bowed to her father. "Good day, Papa. I'll be back before midnight tonight." She said as she picked up her purse and pushed in her chair.

"Good." He just said as he waved his hand to dismiss her, the servants cleaning up after her quickly. Lucy nodded as she made her way to the entrance, where a guard opened the castle doors for her.

The sight was amazing.

Even though it was just plain Fiore, this was still pretty breathtaking. The rows and rows of houses before her just made her feel excited about them. There was a slight breeze, and Lucy was happy she'd brought a sweater to keep her warm. It made her beyond happy about what she was going to see today.

"See you soon, Your Highness," one of the guards said — Capricorn — as he turned and gave her a smile. Lucy grinned back. She trusted Capricorn, he was one of her father's right hand men when it came to combat. She curtsied to him even though she wasn't wearing one of her gowns — and got into the carriage waiting for her.

Excited, she texted Levy — "Hey! No lessons today. Going out to Magnolia! I'm super excited!" — and watched the scene through her carriage as they made their way to the destination.

* * *

><p>Soon, Lucy was dropped off, and after waving goodbye to her carriage, she began her quest in exploring Magnolia. Sadly, her friends couldn't quite make it today with her but she didn't mind.<p>

She tried many things — there was a lot of great food in Magnolia, and she made several notes to give some of the recipes to the cooks back in the castle for they were just really magnificent.

Lucy had gotten a few strange recognition glances at her, some did a double take and shrugged as they continued on walking, but the blonde was nervous that someone would recognize her as who she really was. She was constantly asked what her surname was, and she stuttered and made up a fake one.

They were suspicious, but it soon stopped entirely. Lucy just wanted to spend the whole day not being bombarded with papparazi and commoners asking for her autograph.

She was just Lucy. Well, she wanted to be known as "Just Lucy." She didn't want to be "Lucky Lucy" of the Heartfilia royal family known for her good looks and peppy personality — she wanted to be a _Lucy_ everyone would see her as she truly was, a daydreamer and wannabe author.

It wasn't possible. Not everyone knew what the real personalities of each royal family member were. They had to basically have a secret identity. It was complicated enough for her. All this royalty stuff made her sick.

Lucy was thinking this as she watched the sunset before her. It had been a long and exciting day for her, and she was glad for this experience. She'd bought souveniers for her friends and a few of the desserts and food that she was planning on sharing later.

Lucy was told that the sakura trees here were really beautiful at night, and since this was one of her rare days out, she decided to go ahead and sit under one, wanting to see how beautiful they really were.

The blonde was trying to find one of the trees when all of a sudden, she _literally_ bumped into the person who was walking the opposite way.

Lucy fell on her butt as she squealed in pain as the other person yelped and seemed to land backwards as well. Judging by their voice, they seemed like they were a male.

The bag of sweets in her hands she were holding dropped out of her grip and crashed besides her, leaving her staring at them, a wave of shock and sadness washing over to her. But she attended to him first.

"Ack! I'm so, so sorry —" Lucy stuttered.

The other person chuckled. "No, no — it's fine —"

They both looked up at the same time, and both of their eyes connected.

It seemed as if a spark lit up between them, and that made them both not look away from each other right away. What was this connection? Lucy didn't know, but it made her a bit self-concious about herself. Sometimes people gave her this look if they recognized her.

But ... there was something different about this glance. It seemed ... As if she saw stars reflected in his eyes. Wow. Okay. That was weird. They immediately cut off their glances, embarrassed.

Lucy sheepishly stood while the latter stood up more quickly. She faced him and apologized. "I'm so sorry. I guess — I was walking too fast." She bowed her head shamefully as she cursed herself on the inside.

She studied him some more. He seemed to be just a regular commoner. He had _pink_ hair, goodness! She'd never seen such bright pink locks before. But it suited him well. He looked a year older than her and had a muscular built. He was donning a white scaly scarf and had a very warm smile. His onyx eyes glittered.

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she glanced at him again. His eyes were really distracting, and she found herself staring into them as she flushed with embarrassment before turning away.

He seemed to be more relaxed about the manner. When Lucy looked up again, he was smiling gingerly. "No, I should apologize about the sweets." He pointed to the now destroyed bag. "I'll buy you some."

"What?" Lucy gasped. "No! I don't want to trouble you —"

He laughed as she stared, worried. "It's fine. I want to repay you." He held out his hand. "By the way, I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. And you are ... ?"

Lucy panicked. She wasn't used to introducing herself to commoners so easily. But for some reason, Lucy knew she could trust him. It was like that unspoken air that confirmed it.

"Uh ... Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia —" she stopped as she watched his expression, which morphed into surprise, bewilderment, shock, confusion, surprise, then back to normal again. He laughed out loud.

"No way," Natsu said, pulling at his scarf. "There's no way you could be _the_ Lucy Heartfilia, of the Heartfilia family."

She pouted. "But I am! But ... why do you think otherwise?"

"This Lucy," Natsu grinned. "she's more bashful and shy rather than manipulative and cunning. It's like you two are the same person, but at the same time you're not."

Agitation rose. "Is that really what everyone sees me as?" Lucy grit her teeth. "See, this is what I mean! I hate this, people really don't understand — "

"Aha," Natsu interrupted. "But I do. I know the real you now, and we've just barely met haven't we?" He smiled at her. "Don't worry, Princess, I've got you covered. I'll pay for the sweets."

Lucy stayed there, absolutely stunned, as she gaped at Natsu. She huffed as she shook her head and sighed. "Well ... Thank you I guess. And just call me _Lucy_. Just Lucy would be perfectly fine for me."

He gave her a thumbs-up. "No problem, _Just Lucy_."

Lucy gave a loud sigh but she couldn't help but suppress a giggle.

* * *

><p>He ended up buying her the same sweets again, much to her protests. It seemed as if Natsu didn't mind as much, but Lucy was still stuttering after he gave her back the bags of desserts.<p>

"Just consider it my treat, there's nothing to worry about." Natsu had told her nonchalantly as he gently pushed her money away from him. "It's okay."

Lucy was still desperate to owe him back for his kindness. "I still haven't properly thanked you enough." He looked mildly surprised.

"Come see the sakura trees with me. I haven't been here much, so ... " she said, feeling her cheeks heat up. She looked away, feeling embarrassed once more. But Natsu grinned.

"Sounds good to me! I know a great place where we could see them."

With that, Lucy accompanied her new (friend?) to wherever the heck he was leading her. They were walking up the steps to a balcony and Lucy gasped as she could see the many sakura trees throughout the city.

"They're as beautiful as I thought they would be," Lucy smiled as she stared at one of the rainbow sakura trees, watching them quite intently. She turned to Natsu and grinned. "Thank you."

He waved her off. "I told you, it's no biggie." He flashed a grin towards her. "So, you've never seen these things before? Don't go out often, do you?"

"Well ... I don't have lessons on Saturday." Lucy replied, wondering why she was even telling someone she just met this information. "But when I do, I try to make the most of it."

A blanket of silence took over them before Natsu responded.

"I hope you made the best of it, then."

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, I guess I did." She continued to stare at the beautiful sakura trees, took a couple pictures with her phone, and after deciding that she had enough, she stretched.

"Well, I better head back now. My father'll be worried if I go home late. Thanks again — er, Natsu, right?" Lucy said as she shook his hand once more. He smiled and nodded.

"Mhm. I'm always at your service, Luce." He bowed playfully and Lucy shook her head and fought off a smile, before registering that he just now had _given her a nickname_.

They stared at each other in silence.

"Hey, uh, Lucy?"

Lucy blinked. "Yes?"

"Will I ... Will I see you again?" Natsu asked as he placed a hand behind his head bashfully. His other was stuffed in his pocket.

Lucy smiled. "I ... I think so."

His eyes lit up. "Can I get your contact number then? I mean, we're technically friends now and everything but I just — " he stopped midsentence. "I just want to see you again."

Lucy probably blushed, but the sky was already dark and she prayed to Mavis that Natsu didn't see her red face. "Uh, of course. It's here ... "

The two of them exchanged cellphone numbers and when they finished, Natsu looked more happier. "Well ... See you next time Luce! It was nice meeting you."

And with that, he left.

* * *

><p>Lucy arrived home later that night, and she couldn't really stop smiling. The thoughts pf Natsu were constantly popping into her head, and she found herself stupidly smiling when she imagined his grin once more.<p>

_Stop it, Lucy,_ she chided herself. _He's just a regular commoner._

_A handsome, regular commoner._

"SHUT UP BRAIN!" Lucy then said out of nowhere as she was coped up in her room. Immediately footsteps approached her door once more and this time, her adoptive sister Yukino Aguria poked her head in.

"Er ... Lucy?" Yukino asked, brown eyes widened in confusion. "Are you alright? I heard you from the other side of the castle while I was doing some cleaning."

"Oh, Yukino!" Lucy said. "No, nothing's wrong, but I have something for you." She reached over for the bag of sweets and gave her a small dessert, smiling. "I went to Magnolia today," she explained as her sister glanced at it with awe.

"Thank you, Lucy," Yukino smiled gratefully as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Lucy smiled. She loved her sister dearly.

She glanced at his name in her contacts. _Natsu Dragneel_. Why was he making her life so difficult? It wasn't as if she ... liked him or anything ...

Lucy turned tomato red at the thought, and decided she was just having weird daydreams about a guy she'd never have a chance with — wait, what?

The blonde blinked a few times before shaking her head. No. It was impossible. He was just a guy she just met today!

She sighed at herself in the mirror as she munched on one of the desserts she had — er, wait, Natsu had bought for her.

Maybe she'll see him again, sometime ...

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><p><strong>AN: **what did i just write holy

okay well this took me three hours to publish and damn there must be a thousand typos in this thing but i'm too lazy to go back and fix it

i hope you guys like it! erza, levy, juvia, etc. will all be coming soon! :-)

-choco


	2. kingdoms

**A/N: **omg guys your reviews/favorites/follows etc. made me so so so happy! now i'm even _more _hyped up for this story, which is GREAT. thank you so much! it's funny because you should see my reactions — i literally squeal and once i fell off my chair ngl

shit ok i need to update more often but it's winter break now hella

uiuacoancnir I'M LISTENING TO FALL OUT BOY AS I WRITE THIS GUYS THEY'RE AN AWESOME BAND SCREAMS

**summary: **Lucy Heartfilia isn't your ordinary princess. Instead being known as 'Lucky Lucy Heartfilia' she'd much rather be known as 'Just Lucy.' However, when walking down the streets of Magnolia one day, she bumps into a commoner — er, a rather handsome commoner. And everything changes for her from that point on.

enjoy~

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><p>II.<p>

kingdoms

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A few days passed since Lucy had met Natsu Dragneel — and oh, boy. For some strange reason, she couldn't actually forget about him. It was like her brain wouldn't allow her to get the image of his smile out of her head. And it was very distracting sometimes, mind you. During lessons one day she was staring out into the sky, trying to focus on something to paint or draw — but ended up smiling creepily as she glanced out into the open.

Well, that's what Aquarius yelled at her in the middle of her swimming classes. Lucy had to avoid the blue-haired woman's wrath as she tried to have herself afloat. Heck, Lucy didn't even know _why_ she had to take swimming lessons in the first place! Aquarius was a nightmare — and all she mostly did was tease Lucy for having no boyfriend. She went on and on about her's, making Lucy sick. Aquarius basically hated her, and Lucy was a tiny bit scared of her anyway.

...Moving on.

Lucy didn't mind her lessons, her teachers were slightly weird and unique in their own way but overall, she found them okay. Swimming was probably the one where she dreaded because of Aquarius, but well — that was okay too.

Some of the lessons were boring and uptight, like curtseying and proper manners of speak and how she acted as well. Lucy also had to stand stiffly until her back ached. Walking in heels was a _complete_ nightmare. Lucy broke at least one or more pairs daily. She tried her hardest though. She was constantly trying to get better at everything.

Lucy enjoyed reading about the _History of Fiore_, books were her favorite thing on her lit. Her bookworm friend Levy was also obsessed with them, as well — Lucy was secretly writing a novel and Levy had demanded to be the first to read it.

She'd promised her yes after Levy gave her the _infamous_ puppy dog eyes. She couldn't say no to them. Lucy hummed a tune as she rummaged through her bookcase to find something she could read out of boredom.

Speaking of Levy, Lucy's other friends from the same kingdom were coming over to pay a visit, for they didn't see each other as much as they wanted to. Her father had told her that they would be staying over for a couple of months since there was to be a meeting for all kingdoms pretty soon.

The castle was large enough for her friends to stay in seperate rooms, but they all agreed to stay and sleep in Lucy's, for they all missed each other very much. They would be to put their stuff in seperate rooms though. Lucy was beyond excited for her friends to come.

Meanwhile, the blonde frowned as she read through the many titles and words that popped out before her eyes as she searched for something to read. But none of these books was _the one_ she wanted to read. Maybe she'd look through the library... Hmm.

Lucy literally probably knew every single book she had, because she's _at least_ read all the books in the library _and_ in the ones in her room once or twice. Yep. That's how much Lucy spent time reading rather than wanting to act like a princess.

She was about to go look and do something else when — aha. Her eyes fell on a white book which clearly looked the newest out of all the ones she's seen. A book she hasn't read before? How interesting...

Carefully Lucy pulled it out and examined the cover. Oh, ha — it wasn't a new book. It was one of her favorites, actually, the big book of fairy tales. Virgo or someone must've saw the old book and replaced the cover, making it more presentable. Lucy loved fairy tales a lot, especially ones with happy endings.

They always made her feel warm and so satisfied. Lucy wished she could have a Prince Charming like the other princesses in the stories. He should be out there, somewhere...

She was going to open the book and read through it — when she heard her name being called. Lucy tore her eyes away from the book as she looked up.

"LUCY! Your friends are here!"

Excitement running through her body, the blonde set the book on her desk and quickly grabbed a mirror to see if her hair or just her in general looked all right. She smoothed out her gown and bolted out the room, grinning widely.

Down the staircase leading to the bottom floor, Lucy saw Yukino smiling and laughing with multiple people who were being escorted by the maids; probably to Lucy's room. Ahead she saw her father talking importantly with most likely the people who brought them.

Lucy let out a giant _whoop_ as she made her way down the stairs, picking up her skirts while grinning merrily as she joined Yukino who was greeting her friends. They all stopped talking as smiles replaced their chatter.

Hugs and cheers were all around the group as they were now reunited once again — Levy, Erza, Juvia, Mira, Cana, Lisanna, Wendy — ah, they were finally here!

"I missed all of you so much!" Lucy squealed as they looked at each other in awe. "Even if we did see each other a few weeks ago, haha."

Erza gave her a warm smile as she brushed her red hair out of her face. "We missed you too, Lucy. A _lot_ can happen in just a few weeks, actually." Lucy's eyes widened as the rest of the girls giggled.

"Really? What happened?" Lucy said, surprised. The girls all exchanged a knowing glance and smiled once more.

"We'll explain in your room." Erza replied, smiling mysteriously.

Lucy shared a glance with Yukino, who looked equally confused.

* * *

><p>They all settled down in a circle inside Lucy's room as lucy gave them each the sweets she — er, Natsu bought (Lucy turned red at the thought). They all listened to each other as they dug through snacks and opened souvenirs.<p>

"So, what happened that everyone's giggling about?" Lucy then said as she raised her eyebrows and nudged Levy, who was seated right next to her. The blue-haired girl smiled knowingly.

"So... We may or may not have met guys while we were out one time," Levy said, a smile spreading across her face. She stared off dreamily, a small smile across her face.

"YOU DID?" Lucy said, shocked. "Wow! What're they like?"

"They're really an interesting group of friends," Cana said pointedly as she gulped down some alcohol, laughing. "Me and Lisanna aren't smitten with any of them, but we've listened to the rest of the girls here about who they all adored."

"We don't adore them Cana!" piped up Levy, who's face was red.

Cana snorted. "Yeah, right! I saw the look in all of your eyes when you talked _and_ talked about them. Not that I'm complaining, they're pretty good stories."

"Who are they?" Yukino then said, in awe.

Mira responded. "Their names are Jellal, Gajeel, Laxus, Romeo, and Gray. They're all very nice, both in personality and looks. They know about us being... Uh, royalty and all that..."

Wendy had turned scarlet at the mention of the name Romeo, and Carla her white cat had meowed and rubbed against her as everyone shared a smile, knowing that Wendy probably liked him.

"Juvia thinks that Gray-sama is the most amazing human being on Earth!" Juvia said as she sighed dreamily — Lucy figured that she liked Gray, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Jellal's not too bad..." Erza said shyly as she looked away. Lucy could see the blush on her face and she suppressed a giggle. When Mira laughed, Erza shot her a look. "Like you had to say anything about Laxus!" Mira's face turned bright red.

"You guys are weirdos!" Levy laughed, but then Cana grinned.

The brunette poked Levy, who blinked. "Yeah, and who's the one talking about Gajeel all the time?" At this, the bluenette's cheeks turned red as she sputtered and shook her head.

Lucy couldn't hide in her laugh. "So, they're just regular people too, aren't they? Commoners?" She brushed a strand of blonde hair away as her friends nodded. They continued talking about each and every one of them when Levy changed the subject.

"Lu-chan, did _anything_ significant happen to you?"

Lucy nearly choked on her chocolate she was eating. Her first thoughts led to Natsu Dragneel, and she turned beet red as she thought about the pink-haired teen. Nervously she fanned herself trying to make herself cool down.

"I — uh, no." Lucy sputtered.

Her friends and Yukino all exchanged a look, a look signifying that they _completely_ did not believe whatever the blonde was saying. She laughed nervously. Levy's eyebrows raised, and suddenly everyone was looking at Lucy.

"Um... So, I _may_ have met someone too... ?" The blonde said slowly as she nervously avoided everyone else's gazes. As soon as she finished her sentence, they all erupted into gasps and shouts of glee.

"Lucy, liking someone!" Erza said, her tone full of surprise. "Has the world gone mad? You've never showed interest in someone _or_ turned red like this before!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

That part was true. When most of her friends (sometimes excluding Erza) fawned over an attractive person, Lucy honestly didn't. She never liked a guy as much, she usually spent her time reading rather than drooling over dreamy guys.

But... Natsu was different somehow. He'd found a way to make her just absolutely... Ugh. Whatever this strange feeling was, it made Lucy's heart do millions of jumping jacks whenever she thought of him.

"Er... I met someone named Natsu Dragneel," Lucy then finally said truthfully, smiling as she remembered what happened on their first encounter. "We literally bumped into each other at a park in Magnolia, and he'd bought me sweets after I dropped them. He didn't care if I was a princess — he just treated me as me."

Everyone smiled.

Yukino giggled. "That's so sweet of him to do that, isn't it?"

"He reminds me a lot like Romeo-kun!" Wendy said, surprised. "Maybe they all know each other and are connected to each other somehow... ?"

"It's not because you like Romeo, right?" Lucy teased, as Wendy turned bright red once more and stared shyly at the carpet. However, she shook her head.

"No... I really think maybe all of them are actually friends with each other. I think Romeo-kun mentioned someone named Natsu and how he looked up to him, but I'm not entirely sure about that..." Wendy looked in deep thought.

It was silent as they all processed this.

Erza spoke up first. "It's possible, actually. It's a small world."

"Juvia wants to meet Gray-sama again," Juvia sighed as she wiped several tears away.

Lucy placed a hand on her friend's. "I'm pretty sure, that one day... We'll all meet them again. I'm a hundred percent sure we will... Probably. It's all in a matter of time, isn't it?"

"Maybe one day..." Mira said wistfully.

* * *

><p>The next day, Lucy's father allowed them to go out into Magnolia to go look around and get some souvenirs and things the rest of the girls might want to buy. No one had recognized them so far, and it was great.<p>

Lucy was watching her friends throw crumbs and pieces of bread at some of the ducks in the pond before them, and was smiling to herself as she watched them do so. It was nice hanging out like this, ignoring all things she'd had to do as a princess...

It was a really nice feeling.

As Lucy continued to watch them feed the ducks, she suddenly felt someone crash into her. She yelped as they both crashed to the ground, both groaning in pain. Lucy pushed them off her immedately, and had frowned once she could see them clearly.

They seemed to be around the same age as her — sixteen, seventeen? And it was another male. He sat up and cursed, rubbing his head. He had rave colored hair and dark blue eyes. He also did _not_ have a shirt on, but he didn't seem to acknowledge that.

"Sorry, miss," he said in an apologetic tone. He stood up and stretched. He was pretty muscular. "You didn't get hurt at all, right? You're okay?"

"Uh, no, I'm not hurt at all, but..." She averted her eyes. "I suggest putting something on?" Lucy didn't look back, but a startled yelp had told her that he just realized he was half naked.

"Shit! Uh, I'm sorry — you see, this is pretty normal for me but — "

"You call walking around half naked _normal_?"

"No, uh — it's not like that, but it's hard to explain — "

A loud and very familiar voice then shouted, "GRAY, YOU IDIOT!" Both teens jumped at the sudden noise, Gray yelled something back at the direction it came from, but Lucy was too busy trying to find out why the name _Gray_ sounded so familiar —

"Shut up, Natsu! It's your fault I crashed into her!"

Wait. Wait. What?

Natsu? Lucy only knew one Natsu in her entire life, and that Natsu was Natsu Dragneel. But there was no way. There was absolutely no way that was _the_ Natsu she only knew. All of this was a coincedence. Some weirdos named Natsu and Gray who are just regular, normal people —

Someone slammed into Gray and she shrieked, jumping out of the way to see two boys wrestling on the ground in front of her. "AAAH! What are you doing!" Lucy yelled as she pried off one of the boys off the other.

Muffled cries and yells were made as Lucy finally successfully pulled off one of the teens, who couldn't move since Lucy was holding on to him. Her eyes were closed, but she backed up as far as possible as she let him go.

"What are you honestly doing, fighting in the middle of nowhere like this? Jeez, you two are really nuts you know — " at last, Lucy opened her eyes to see who it was — and nearly fainted.

Gray was frowning and had his arms crossed — but, holy. Natsu's onyx eyes were staring wide-eyed back at her, in both surprise and recognition. He looked just the same as ever — he was wearing his white scaly scarf again —

"Luce?" Natsu said, in awe.

"Lucy?" Her friends called, running over.

Dead silence. Then,

"GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia cried as she ran over to Gray, who did a double take and shuddered as Juvia clung to his bare arm.

Nevertheless, Gray looked beyond confused. "Juvia? What are you doing here?"

More silence followed.

Then Lucy heard more voices — of people arguing. They got closer, and Lucy could slowly make out about what their names were by listening to what they were saying. At the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Wendy, Levy, and Erza gasp.

"Romeo — this is all your fault, see look now they're making a scene — "

"Excuse me, all my fault? If anything, it should be your fault Gajeel — "

"You two! Stop arguing, Laxus'll be pissed when he hears about this — "

"Aw, shut up, Jellal, you're being a party pooper — "

They all stopped in front of them, and stared. Flashes of recognition appeared on the three boys' faces once they spotted Wendy, Levy, and Erza. One had blue hair and a red tattoo covering his eye. Another had jet-black hair and red eyes. The last one had black hair and looked the youngest out of the trio.

More silence.

"Holy crap," Gajeel then said, eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure I've seen you guys before." Levy looked like she was about to faint as she glanced at the taller teen. Lucy was beyond surprised — she definitely wasn't expecting to run into Natsu today.

Then after that, it was quiet once more as everyone gaped at each other.

"Alright, well — hey guys!" Cana then shouted, waving a wine bottle in the air. "Why don't we introduce ourselves again and clear up whatever the hell's happening?"

Natsu and Lucy shared a glance before Lucy looked away smiling, but not before seeing Natsu grinning sheepishly. She had found him again.

Yeah, there was a whole lot to clear up.

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><p><strong>AN: **boop! there we have it ahaha,

i hoped you guys enjoyed this! and.. early merry christmas to you guys! i'll try to get to most of my stories as a christmas present for all of youu_  
><em>

hope i could have a relationship like natsu & lucy one day.. maybe soon ;) lol

later skaters !

-choco


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